New York Times finds a non-gerrymandered district – expresses incredulity

NY Times 5 August 2006 / Campaign 2006

Leveled Colorado District Creates an Election Lab

By CARL HULSE
DENVER, Aug. 2 –
The remarkable thing about Colorado's Seventh Congressional
District,
where Republicans hold a seat that Democrats are desperate to win this year, is
that the
fix isn't in.

Unlike the vast majority of House districts around the country, this one,
encompassing a
thriving collection of Denver suburbs, was not gerrymandered to guarantee
victory to one
party. Quite the opposite. It is a freak of modern political nature,
purposefully drawn to be
balanced between the parties and provide a genuine test of the ideals and
abilities of the
opposing candidates.

"It is a political scientist's dream," said Representative Diana DeGette, a
Democrat who
represents an adjoining district.

Now, with control of Congress at stake, the decision by Representative Bob
Beauprez to
vacate the seat after two terms to run for governor has created one of the most
important
Congressional races in the nation, a laboratory for Republicans and Democrats
alike and a
bellwether in a fluid political year. Both parties are making the contest a
priority as
Republicans try to hold on against determined Democrats, who will choose their
candidate
in a primary next Tuesday and sorely need the seat to recapture the House.

The candidates are already fighting over the Iraq war, immigration, stem cell
research and
political corruption, suggesting that the outcome could be settled by how a
textbook
swing district comes down on the driving questions of the day.

"It really is like America, right down the middle, just like you read about in
civics class,"
said Peggy Lamm, one of the three Democratic primary contenders, as she headed
out on
a scorching day to knock on doors. "That's what I love about it."

Under boundaries imposed by a Denver judge in 2002, the Seventh District is
almost
perfectly divided among independents, Democrats and Republicans, each sharing a
third
of the district, which nearly surrounds Denver. It is a mix of old suburbs and
new exurbs
that are home to a potent demographic stew, with slightly more women than men,
stirred
by a healthy mix of Hispanics and other minorities who make up almost a quarter
of the
district.

The mainly middle-class residents commute to downtown offices and stores or work
at
nearby federal medical and energy research centers and military installations.
Many are
retired. Others labor at the oil refineries and warehouses that dominate
industrial
Commerce City at one end of the district and the Coors brewery that is
synonymous with
the city of Golden at the other.

It is a district where voters twice sent Mr. Beauprez, a Republican, to the
House – the first
time by 121 votes –
but backed John Kerry for president. Voters elected a
Democratic
senator and a Republican governor, demonstrating a willingness to look beyond
party
labels when making decisions at the ballot box.

"This really is a district that could only have come out of a court, not a
political process,"
said Bob Loevy, a political science professor and analyst at Colorado College.

In the Democratic race to take on the Republican candidate, Rick O'Donnell, Ms.
Lamm, a
former state legislator, is facing off against Ed Perlmutter, a former State
Senate leader
with deep roots in the district and strong party establishment backing, as
evidenced by his
endorsement this week by Representative Mark Udall. A third candidate, Herb
Rubenstein,
a recently transplanted Washington lawyer and businessman, is a long shot who
has made
opposition to the war in Iraq a centerpiece of his campaign.

Mr. Perlmutter and Ms. Lamm, two seasoned politicians, have waged tough
campaigns
against one another through television advertisements and mailings. Ms. Lamm
this week
hit Mr. Perlmutter for a 2001 legislative vote against eliminating the statute
of limitations
on sex crimes; Mr. Perlmutter, the father of three girls, said the law was
unconstitutional.
He likes to remind voters that Ms. Lamm was a lobbyist and that she is not the
wife of
Richard Lamm, the popular former governor, but was married to his brother before
a
divorce.

The three Democratic candidates do agree on one thing: they say voters in the
district are
fed up with the Bush administration and Republican governance. "Simply put,
people have
had enough and they want a change," Mr. Perlmutter said. "Moderate Republicans,
unaffiliated voters and Democrats are wanting to see some checks and balances
back in
Congress."

No matter who wins the primary, the general election promises to offer a clear
choice
between Democratic and Republican ideology, pitting the primary victor against
Mr.
O'Donnell, the state higher education commissioner who has welcomed President
Bush
and a string of administration stars to the state for help in raising money.

Mr. O'Donnell, who has been quietly biding his time and building his bank
account while
the Democrats compete, said he knew his eventual opponent would try to link him
to the
Bush White House so he figured he might as well reap the financial rewards of
his
association. "I was honored to have President Bush come in and give me the
upside," said
Mr. O'Donnell, a native of the district who lost a primary to Mr. Beauprez in
2002.

Mr. O'Donnell notes that he has split with Mr. Bush and taken a harder line on
immigration, which he sees as the top issue in the race. But Democrats say some
of the
passion has gone out of that topic with the passage of new immigration laws by
the state
legislature and a failed effort to put an immigration initiative on the November
ballot.

And while he generally backs the current Republican agenda, Mr. O'Donnell said
he
considers himself more progressive on matters like education and health care
policy,
which he thinks will play to the district's center.

His potential Democratic opponents are not buying it. And they plan to make hay
out of a
policy paper Mr. O'Donnell wrote 11 years ago advocating the elimination of
Social
Security, a view that internal Democratic polls show is deadly when brought to
the
attention of voters. Mr. O'Donnell attributes the paper to youthful exuberance
and says he
has since changed his mind.

"As my pollster said, Why couldn't I have smoked pot when I was 24?" said Mr.
O'Donnell,
a former aide to Gov. Bill Owens. "Instead, I had to write about Social
Security."

Mr. O'Donnell acknowledged that residents who press him on the war tend to be
frustrated by events in Iraq, but his position is that pulling out troops too
quickly would
risk leaving a "failed state in the Middle East." That view puts him at sharp
odds with the
Democrats, all of whom have called for troop withdrawals in their campaign
advertising.

On another national topic that could play a role in the race, Mr. Perlmutter's
first television
commercial focused on embryonic stem cell research, tying it to the potential
benefits for
a daughter who has epilepsy. All three Democrats participated in a Denver rally
for federal
stem cell research after Mr. Bush's veto of a bill to expand federally financed
research,
which he issued two days before appearing in Denver for Mr. O'Donnell. Mr.
O'Donnell
plays down the potential impact of the issue and sides with the president,
saying he does
not want federal money to provide an incentive to destroy human embryos, though
he
supports private research.

As the race heads to November, candidates of both parties will have to reach
beyond their
political base and find support in the middle, since 123,000 voters in the
district do not
claim allegiance to either party. They total slightly more than Democrats who,
at 119,000,
have pulled slightly ahead of Republicans, at 113,000. But in political terms,
the groups
are effectively equal, setting up a true horse race, which was evidently what
Judge John W.
Coughlin had in mind in 2002 when he approved the present boundaries after a
politically
drawn map was tossed out.

"The court has concluded that the new district would benefit from what should be
a
competitive race," Judge Coughlin wrote in his decision. "The foreseen closeness
of the
race will hopefully generate much interest of the voters."